The Early Days

Scripture gives us little information about the early years of Jesus. A

few verses, however, tell us something about the conditions He lived

under and the kind of world the Savior entered.

Read Luke 2:7, 22–24 (see also Lev. 12:6–8) and Matthew 2:1–18.

What do we see in these texts that gives us an indication of the kind

of life Jesus faced from the start?

Of course, Jesus was not the first person to live in poverty or to face

those who wanted to kill Him, even from an early age. There is, how-

ever, another element that helps us understand the uniqueness of what

Christ suffered from the earliest times.

Read John 1:46. What element does this add to help us understand

what sufferings the young Jesus had faced?

With the exceptions of Adam and Eve before the Fall, Jesus was the

only sinless Person who ever lived on the earth. In His purity, in His

sinlessness, He was immersed in a world of sin. What torture it must

have been, even as a child, for His pure soul constantly to be in contact

with sin. Even in our hardness because of sin, we ourselves often shrink

away from exposure to sins and evil that we find repulsive. Imagine

what it must have been like for Christ, whose soul was pure, who wasn’t

the least bit tainted by sin. Think of the sharp contrast between Himself

and others around Him in that regard. It must have been exceedingly

painful for Him.

Ask yourself, “How sensitive am I to the sins that exist all around

us? Do they bother me, or am I hardened to them?” If you are

hardened to them, could it be because of the things you read,

watch, or even do? Think about it.